WHAT: This summer, Aquatica water park has added Island Nights, programming for the late afternoon and evening on select days. Visitors experience DJs, beach dancing, live music, games and prizes plus a special menu from the park's Waterstone Grill.

WHAT: My Morning Jacket is an easy band to fall in love with. At turns ethereal, energized and soulful, this brainchild of singer/songwriter Jim James (pictured) sometimes sounds like what would happen if early Pink Floyd had decided to become an Al Green cover band. The group out of Louisville,...

Salt-N-Pepa. Kid 'n Play. Vanilla Ice. 2 Live Crew. How could any fan of '80s and '90s beats get happier? This epic concert joins together some of the most ubiquitous acts of rap's early radio heydays when the rhythms were poppy, the lyrics were sexy and the clothes were neon. The acts in this...

WHAT: Someone thinks this is a great idea, but it's probably not the American Heart Association. In a weird crossover with the Internet that decided a couple years back that bacon was the most delicious (or was it hilarious?) food in existence, the Great American Bacon Race combines the endurance...

WHAT: If you are older than 30, chances are that at some point you uttered the words "Homey don't play that." Damon Wayans' misanthropic clown on early-'90s Fox show "In Living Color" gave a succinct summary for being annoyed, and he made you laugh to boot. The urban sketch comedy show launched...

There's lots going on this week at some familiar places with exhibit openings and some free tours, and one brand new venue is opening its doors. And, this is still summer ... our "slow" time of year! So, what's going on this week?

Latest concert news

Late in her sold-out Orlando concert, singer-actress Idina Menzel confessed she had been feeling "a little low" before the show began. "Thank you for reviving me and reinvigorating me," she told the audience at the Walt Disney Theater in the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts.

WHAT: No one is about to accuse The Protomen of being too accessible. Taking its name from a character in a "Mega Man" video game, the group started out with a 36-minute rock opera about the first six entries of the classic Nintendo 8 side-scroller.

Indie songwriter Sufjan Stevens is arguably best known for his 2005 album "Illinois," a symphonic exploration of the history and oddities of the Midwestern state. Sometimes called "Sufjan Stevens Invites You to: Come On Feel the Illinoise," the record was the second work in his 50 states project...

Latest movie releases

With the new "Mission: Impossible" movie, even if it's the most assured and satisfying of the five so far, it sounds foolish to even mention the things the characters say in between screeching tires, gunfights, knife fights, motorcycle derring-do, and the opening act featuring Tom Cruise dangling...

There must be some sort of Dr. Seuss contraption shared among Hollywood studios called the Unfunny-izer, hauled out and set to sputtering when it comes time for the latest depressing remake of a comedy.

Full of gracefully wrought and dryly comic turns, "The Farewell Party" goes by the name "A Good Death" in Hebrew, and it's an easy film about difficult matters. One can wish it were a different and deeper experience. But the one it offers is an effective little machine, much like the mercy-killing...

"Jimmy's Hall," Ken Loach's loving dramatization of the life and times of the Irish communist James "Jimmy" Gralton, begins with jumpy black-and-white archival footage of Depression-era New York. The buildings going up, the teeming crowds, the soup kitchen lines.

Arts and theater events

Orlando Shakespeare Theater kicks off its 27th season with an open house this Saturday, Aug. 1. The family-friendly event is free to the public with ongoing activities from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. inside the John and Rita Lowndes Shakespeare Center, 812 E. Rollins St.

Here are scenes from Theatre Downtown's "Four by Tenn," four short plays by Tennessee Williams, being presented through Sunday at Rollins College in Winter Park. Call 407-841-0083. (Art Faulkner Photography)